GMATPrep Reading Comp: Tackling a Tough Passage - Part 5
Welcome to the final installment of our series on tackling a tough Reading Comp passage from the GMATPrep free exams! If youre just joining us now, go all the way back to the first installment and work your way through to this one.
Make sure you keep part 1 of the series open; it contains the full text of the passage.
Here is the final problem for the passage:
According to the passage, comparable worth principles are different in which of the following ways from other mandates intended to reduce or eliminate pay inequities?(A) Comparable worth principles address changes in the pay schedules of male as well as female workers.
(B) Comparable worth principles can be applied to employees in both the public and the private sector.
(C) Comparable worth principles emphasize the training and skill of workers.
(D) Comparable worth principles require changes in the employers resource allocation.
(E) Comparable worth principles can be used to quantify the value of elements of dissimilar jobs.
Step 1: Identify the question
The language according to the passage signals that this is a Specific Detail question. These questions essentially ask you to find the answer that matches a certain detail in the passage.
Step 2: Find the proof
Where does the passage talk about the differences between CW and other mandates that are also intended to address pay gaps?
The passage introduces other mandates in the third paragraph. Starting with the second sentence of paragraph three:
Because of the principles driving them, other mandates that can be applied to reduce or eliminate unjustified pay gaps between male and female workers have not remedied perceived pay inequities satisfactorily for the litigants in cases in which men and women hold different jobs. But whenever comparable worth principles are applied to pay schedules, perceived unjustified pay differences are eliminated. In this sense, then, comparable worth is more comprehensive than other mandates.
Step 3: Predict an answer
So, what are the differences? The other ones dont work as well for pay gaps between male and female workers holding different jobs, whereas CW does work.
Do you need to go further in the passage or is this enough? You cant know until you check the answers for a match. If none match, then you can continue further in paragraph three to see whether there are other differences.
(Why arent I suggesting that you find all of the differences first? Time! Once you can predict a potential answer, see whether its there. If not, then you can decide whether to predict another potential answer or whether youre sick of this question and want to guess and move on. :)
Step 4: Find a match in the answers
Dive in!
(A) Comparable worth principles address changes in the pay schedules of male as well as female workers.
This choice does mention male and female workers but changes in the pay schedules arent the issue. Gaps are the issue. This one isnt a match.
(B) Comparable worth principles can be applied to employees in both the public and the private sector.
This part of the passage didnt mention public vs. private. I do remember reading about public and private in the first paragraph but for now, this one isnt a match. If I dont find a better answer, I might come back to this one and look at paragraph one.
(C) Comparable worth principles emphasize the training and skill of workers.
Hmm. This isnt a match to what I just read, but I do remember reading that skills are what you actually measure when the jobs are dissimilar. So this at least seems to go along with the general way that CW works. Ill leave it in for now.
(D) Comparable worth principles require changes in the employers resource allocation.
This is not a match for the part I just re-read. And I dont remember reading about this in general. The previous answer was more promising.
(E) Comparable worth principles can be used to quantify the value of elements of dissimilar jobs.
This one reminds me of (C). Both seem to be about how comparable worth is able to fix pay gaps even for people in different kinds of jobs.
So I do need to read a little bit later in this paragraph to see how this part is described.
Neither compares tasks in dissimilar jobs (that is, jobs across occupational categories) in an effort to determine whether or not what is necessary to perform these tasksknow-how, problem-solving, and accountabilitycan be quantified in terms of its dollar value to the employer. Comparable worth, on the other hand, takes as its premise that certain tasks in dissimilar jobs may require a certain amount of training, effort, and skill; may carry similar responsibility; may be carried on in an environment having a similar impact upon the worker; and may have a similar dollar value to the employer.
CW does examine training and skill levels. It uses that examination to try to quantify the value of different jobs to the employer. That matches answer choice (E). Answer choice (C) is very tempting, but it says that CW emphasizes training and skill levels. CW is not trying to say that people should be better trained to have higher skills. It just examines these things in an effort to try to figure out how much the job is worth to the employer.
The correct answer is (E).
That was a tough one. We had to review a good portion of the third paragraph, and even then, at least one wrong answer was still pretty tempting.
You made it! Congratulations. Now, glance back through these five installments and write down your two or three major takeaways for tackling challenge RC. What do you want to make sure you do (or dont do) in the future?
Key Takeaways for Challenging RC
(1) You dont need to understand every last detail of this passage. RC is an open book test: the passage is always sitting right there. Figure out the big picture, and worry about the details later, once you actually get a question about something specific. (By the way: how often did knowing the main idea help you on all of the specific questions for this passage? Go take a look.)
(2) Follow the process. Dont skip steps! If a particular question is just too hard, thats okay; guess and move on. But if you are going to answer a question, follow the process.
(3) Think about where you are in the Verbal section and how your time and mental energy are doing. On a long and challenging passage, you might decide to bail on one question so that you can spread that time over other questions. (Remember that roman numeral questionthe first one we did? Ugh.)
(4) An answer to my question in the first takeaway: the main idea alone could help you to eliminate wrong answers on every single one of these questions. See how useful that is? ;)
* GMATPrep questions courtesy of the Graduate Management Admissions Council. Usage of this question does not imply endorsement by GMAC.